Household spending grew by just 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter and by 1.8 percent in 2017 overall, the slowest rate of annual growth since 2012.

Firms also appeared reluctant to spend, with business investment flat in the final three months of 2017.

The downward revision to growth came a day after the Office for National Statistics published figures showing a surprise rise in unemployment in the three months to December.

The weaker-than-expected data creates a potential dilemma for the Bank of England, where policymakers signalled earlier this month the economy could be ready for another rise in interest rates as early as May.

While the job boom is booming and the service sector is thriving, the overall economy is moving at a slower pace. Inflation and sluggish wage growth are still stopping consumers from spending and are having a negative impact on retailers as a result. Rising numbers of the unemployed are also affecting consumer confidence and leading many to tighten up budgets and save for a rainy day.

If the economy is running slowly, it doesn’t mean your business has to be. It is a credit manager’s job to get businesses out of scrapes and put them back on the high street better than they were before. At the Credit Protection Association, we chase away late payers, and recover bad debt, and ensure our members swerve even the sharpest of economic turns. Our credit management products, from credit reports to credit checks, will also allow our members to oversee all they do business with. This will lead good payers to be rewarded and bad payers to be punished.